superbug

And that's hopefully less scary than it sounds

(Newser) -
NASA and a biomedicine company are sending a drug-resistant superbug into outer space, where it will be researched aboard the International Space Station. And while Gizmodo notes the plan sounds like "Elon Musk's idea for a science fiction spec he's working on," it will—hopefully—have...
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Experts are calling it a 'harbinger of future badness'

(Newser) -
This is the kind of case researchers warned about for years: A Nevada woman in her 70s died months ago from an infection that no antibiotic in America could have defeated, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Thursday. The woman was hospitalized in August last...
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Six recent CRE infections appear to have happened outside hospitals

(Newser) -
"Nightmare" superbugs on the loose in Colorado! That's the alarmist gist of a CDC report published this week. Bacteria known as CRE are resistant to powerful antibiotics and fatal to up to 50% of people infected, Live Science reports. Fortunately, infections in the US had almost entirely been...
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And that could be good news for humans

(Newser) -
Forget mother's milk, the real good stuff is devil's milk. A study published this month in Scientific Reports has found that Tasmanian devil milk contains certain chemical compounds that could help humans in their battle against drug-resistant bacterial infections. WHO has called so-called superbugs "a fundamental threat...
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'The good news is we found it; the bad news is, it's here'

(Newser) -
As if the news surrounding the continued emergence of drug-resistant superbugs isn't already dire enough, scientists are now reporting in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy that seagulls, which thanks to their enormous migratory reach are great vehicles for carrying resistant bacteria to new places, are carrying a dangerous superbug....
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'Routine operations could become deadly; minor infections could become life-threatening'

(Newser) -
The director of the CDC says we're close to living in a "post-antibiotic world" after an antibiotic-resistant superbug was discovered in the US for the first time last month, Reuters reports. “It basically shows us that the end of the road isn’t very far away for...
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Antibiotic resistance travels between bacteria

(Newser) -
The latest strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to give researchers sleepless nights aren't the most common—or even the most antibiotic-resistant—but they have an ability that could make them a serious danger to public health. They contain enzymes known as "OXA-48-like carbapenemases" that can break down antibiotics and...
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Bacteria exposed to it become harder to kill

(Newser) -
Superbugs such as MRSA are already bad enough. But it turns out that something can make them even nastier: cigarette smoke. Researchers found that antibiotic-resistant bacteria exposed to the smoke became more aggressive and far more difficult to kill, they explain at Eureka Alert . It's almost as if the...
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Texas findings 'made me not want to breathe,' says researcher

(Newser) -
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria now infect some 2 million Americans every year, the Texas Tribune reports, and experts have long been aware of the presence of so-called "superbugs" in tainted food and drink. New findings offer an even bleaker picture: We might be inhaling DNA from such bacteria, researcher Phil Smith...
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As it emerges that the scope in question was being sold without FDA approval

(Newser) -
The superbug outbreak that killed two people and sickened five more isn't constrained to UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center. Another Los Angeles hospital is now reporting that four patients have been infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and the scope that Cedars-Sinai Medical Center believes exposed its patients to carbapenem-resistant...
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Move could help fight drug-resistant superbugs

(Newser) -
As experts warn of the growing threat of antibiotic-resistant "superbugs," one culprit is the drugs used to treat farm animals . McDonald's is now taking a step to fix the issue: The restaurant chain's US operation will no longer use chicken that's been treated with human...
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2 patients at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center have died

(Newser) -
Two of seven patients infected by a "superbug" at an LA hospital have died, and now an 18-year old is battling to keep from being the third. According to the AP , the teen had gone to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center late last year to undergo a procedure that...
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Outbreak linked to infected endoscopes

(Newser) -
An outbreak of the drug-resistant superbug CRE has already killed two people and infected seven other patients at UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center, and officials fear 179 others may have been exposed. UCLA believes the bacteria were transmitted through two specialized endoscopes that were inserted down patients' throats, reports...
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Antibiotic-resistant bacteria is out of control

(Newser) -
India sees 800,000 newborns die each year, but 58,000 of those deaths were particularly noteworthy—and alarming—last year. Those infants died of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, according to a recent study cited by the New York Times , which reports the evidence is mounting that a sizable amount of...
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But critics say White House effort doesn't address key problem

(Newser) -
The Obama administration yesterday revealed a new national strategy to address antibiotic resistance, which kills 23,000 people a year . Some experts are heralding the fact that a president is finally responding to the issue, the New York Times reports. Others, however, say the strategy to improve how antibiotic use...
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Expert warns of 'major public health concern'

(Newser) -
Australia has encountered the most drug-resistant strain of gonorrhea the country has ever seen. The disease, detected in a central European tourist who reportedly contracted it in Sydney, is being called a "sex superbug" by the UK's Independent . While clinics in Australia and New Zealand are boosting their...
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'Post-antibiotic era' could lie ahead, experts warn

(Newser) -
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria that are "just about as bad as it gets," as one study author puts it, are spreading quickly in the Southeast, with a fivefold increase in detected cases between 2008 and 2012, a new study warns. The carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, can defeat even last-resort antibiotics...
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NDM hung onto endoscopes despite rigorous disinfection

(Newser) -
Centers for Disease Control officials were surprised by last year's sudden spike in cases of NDM CRE, a drug-resistant superbug, in northeastern Illinois. And they were even more surprised when they discovered a common link between the patients: They had a history of endoscopic liver and pancreas exams. It...
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More than half of samples were contaminated: government study

(Newser) -
Horse meat-tainted beef ? We should be so lucky. US meat is rife with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, or "superbugs," according to a government study released in February that's just now getting attention. The data hails from 2011, and is the result of testing on ground turkey, pork...
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Family of germs resists even the strongest antibiotics

(Newser) -
A family of deadly germs that can withstand even the strongest antibiotics is a growing threat in American hospitals, federal officials warn. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae—CRE—have been detected in 4% of short-stay hospitals and nearly a fifth of long-term ones and authorities warn there is only a "limited window...
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